On Monday, February 9 presentation by François Lachaud on the topic "Moines et vauriens dans le Japon d'Edo (1603-1867) : Recherches sur l'école zen Fuke"

Monday, February 9, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Maison de l'Asie, first-floor salon, 22 avenue du Président Wilson, 75116 Paris.

Monks and good-for-nothings in Edo Japan (1603-1867): Zen, the indirect descendant of the Chan of the Asian continent, constitutes the Buddhist tradition that contributed most to the spread of Japanese civilization in the West from its first encounters with the Jesuits, after having shaped warrior elites and an urban aristocracy and contributed to the Japanese aesthetic, artistic creation, and "philosophy." With the arrival from China of the Ōbaku school, Zen became also the source of the intellectual and artistic renaissance of the 18th century. Only the Fuke school, a "native-born school" that brought down the wrath of the authorities, rediscovered the oppositional spirit of its origins far outside establishment circles. From its legendary founder, the monk Puhua (ca. 770-840/860) and his Linji Conversations, and moving on to his reprobate "disciples," including unemployed samurai and criminals, the study of this school helps bring to light a misunderstood but essential page in the religious, musical, and artistic history of Japan. It has inspired major figures among modern intellectual dissidents and feeds the popular imagination down to our days. This presentation is based on the study of unpublished documents and meetings with "members" of this school. READ MORE